AuthorTopic: God Himself Could Not Sink This Ship: Thoughts on Marten, Claire, and the Future (Read 19012 times)

An Apology: This is NOT the WCDT for the week of February 23rd. You can find that here. It was going to be, but I got a bit carried away and turned some brief speculation about Marten and Claire into the mega-post you see below, so I decided to spin it off into its own discussion and let someone else do the Weekly instead. I kept the poll for funsies, though, so it'll stay up and open until it gets boring, and feel free to change your answer as the story progresses. And, of course, discuss! Add your own thoughts/tell me how wrong I am/whatever.

So, let's talk about Marten and Claire. They've been together for what now, a week? (In-comic, that is; for us it's been about five months) Gosh! In my first post on these forums, I mentioned two possibilities for them as a couple: they could either hang out for a bit and go on a few dates before deciding to just stay friends (doubtful), which still meant that with Jeph's storytelling pace we were in for several months of squee material, or they could embark on a serious relationship that played out over several years worth of strips, if not longer. No middle ground! Twoo Wuv Fuwwevva or bust! And we appear to be taking the second route, but at a faster pace than I expected: I assumed we'd be in for several dates with innocent hand-holding and such before they progressed to cuddling and chaste sleepovers before any sexytimes happened, but Claire had other ideas, and both of them have now admitted to each other that they want to let this relationship work. So we're in it for the long haul! Years of strips to look forward to! I'm not necessarily talking wedding bells, mind you (although Tai and Veronica have probably started scheming together), but Claire and Marten certainly have the potential to be a long-term couple. Knock on wood, of course: something could happen to break them up sooner than expected, which is what I wanted to explore in this post. The last hundred strips were full of squee- and d'awww-worthy moments, but now that they seem to be settling down (well, maybe), there is plenty of room in the relationship for some conflict to emerge. With that in mind, there are several questions we need to answer:

(Note: I decided to put each part of this post under spoilers due to length)

1. Who is Marten?

(click to show/hide)

Our Protagonist needs no introduction, of course; we've known him since the comic started. One thing I will say about him, though, is that he's a pretty good dude, both in general and in how he interacts with Claire. AprilArcus explored this recently, in her post about Marten's evolution as an LGBT ally, and Jeph has only strengthened this with Marten's words and actions since comic 2800. Marten treated Claire with nothing but respect after she came out to him, and continued to treat her as a friend when they worked together and hung out in the weeks that followed. Okay, so he doesn't laugh at her jokes, leading me to worry about their long-term compatibility (C'mon, she's hilarious! Friggin' killjoy...), but I suppose we can't have everything. Still, Marten's a good (if humorless) guy, and if you weren't convinced enough before The Night of the Tipsy Headscritches, Marten made it quite clear the next morning when he assured Claire after asking her out that he was completely comfortable with her being transgender.

There was plenty of debate over this in the forums and elsewhere, wondering whether or not he was being sincere, what evidence did we really have that he was okay dating someone who was trans, what would happen if/when they eventually had sex, etc. My only thought on this, which I probably should have added to the discussion at some point, was: Would Marten have accepted Claire's mother's invitation to come over to breakfast and declare his intentions if he wasn't comfortable with Claire? He's a bit passive, sure, but he's not that passive. Claire gave him enough wiggle room to back away when she stopped the scritches the night before; if Marten had wanted to, the next time he saw her he could have pretended to have been a bit too drunk and (conveniently) unable to remember what happened that night, but hey, sorry if he said or did anything weird, and Claire could have pretended that nothing happened, and life could have gone on as normal, and no one would have gotten hurt (although Claire might have died a little inside, and Marten might have died a little on the outside after Faye got wind of it). Marten didn't have to pursue anything with Claire, but he did anyway--because he wanted to.

But questions remained, even as Jeph focused an unusual amount of time on their budding relationship. Other forum members have pointed out, and I agree, that the last hundred strips have been very Claire- and Marten-heavy, almost excessively so, which might have been less of an issue if there weren't other stories and characters being shuffled to the back of the line (Faye and Dora's problems especially). But I think there is a good reason for that: from their first conversation, to their first (very long) date, and their first night together to their conversation the next day, Jeph has been making it clear to his readers that Claire's status as a transwoman does not matter to Marten and will not be a source of tension in their relationship. Whatever disagreements they have in the future, whatever (eep!) problems that might cause them to (don't say it!) break up (nooo!), Claire's status won't be the reason. Period. End of discussion. Now, with that said...

2. What does Marten want?

(click to show/hide)

He's not really sure. Ultimately, he would like to have a career in music, but...when's the last time we saw Deathmøle practice? His last jam session with Hannelore and Amir, according to the most up-to-date timeline, took place about a month ago in 2446, shortly after the wedding. It's quite possible that the band has been practicing regularly since, of course; Jeph spent some time focusing on other characters between that evening and the present (Angus and Faye, Marigold and Dale, Dale and May, Veronica and Jim, etc.), so Deathmøle could be getting together several nights a week for all we know. More on that in a moment.

Meanwhile, several things have happened in Marten's life since he met Claire in 2203:

All of these have happened in just the last month (see timeline above). Taken one at a time, these little events might not mean much. Add them together, though, and they'll really start to add up. First his father remarries, then his mother starts a relationship--and in between, Dale and Marigold become a couple, a development which causes Dora and Faye to mock Marten for his own love-less love life, which leads to Tai suggesting a random hook-up, which leads to his one-night stand that Claire DOES NOT JUDGE HIM FOR HAVING. That was only two weeks ago, remember--and only a week before Marten and Claire got together--which could lead an outside observer to wonder what this guy's deal is, anyway. Why Claire? Why now? As comfortable and happy as he is with her, could his decision to ask her out have, perhaps, been motivated by seeing all of his family and friends (including, then, Angus and Faye) in various stages of relationships when he hadn't met anyone since Padma? Factor in his panic and doubt over the Emily!smooch, only days before he asked out Claire, and one might really start to wonder. Why panic over one intern only to run to another, especially when he and Tai have been debating the ethics of dating their interns since Day One? Now, I'm not trying to say that Marten is only with Claire because she was the nearest available (and sanest) girl, because that would echo the problems he had with Dora (DEAR GOD NO), but it's surprising that no one in the comic has called him on it. And let's hope that Claire doesn't start to connect the dots.

I'm going to regret writing that last paragraph, aren't I?

NOW, WHERE WAS I? Oh, yes, back to the music front: Again, we're not sure how much Marten has been practicing with the band, but since he made a huge investment when he bought the new 8-string, we can only hope he intends to make it pay off. But another problem has arisen: Faye is now unemployed and her future uncertain, and rent is due at the end of the month. If Faye can't pull her shit together right away, Marten may need to pick up the slack. Where's the money going to come from? Will he keep working extra hours at the library, or start pushing the band to go live? Can he even make money with the band? Does he have a future at the library? Can he juggle both? Will this affect his relationship with a certain redhead, especially if he tries to choose between his current job and his dreams? And is he standing in the way of Claire achieving her own goals? He doesn't want to stay at the library forever, and Claire probably expects to get an actual paying job once her internship ends. But making a change sounds risky, and we know Marten is afraid of taking risks. Maybe he needs a little extra push. Which brings us to...

3. Who is Claire?

(click to show/hide)

Feel free to correct me on all this, but from what I've read about Claire, here on the forums and elsewhere, one reason she has become such a popular and groundbreaking character is because she is a transgender woman whose story in QC is not about her transitioning. When we meet her, she has already transitioned; the usual story of a trans person coming to terms with being transgender, learning more about their condition, coming out to friends and family, taking the first steps towards transitioning, and all the hurdles they encounter along the way--Claire has already been through that, and is now focused on her other goals in life, mainly education, career, and (now) a relationship. I have to applaud Jeph for doing that, and for making clear his intentions to present Claire as more than "the trans character." The problem is, we don't really know much about Claire, do we? Aside from her career dreams and her great sense of humor (no arguing!), we haven't really learned anything about her. And I would like that to change.

Mind you, I want to be clear that I AM NOT asking for a "The Talk"-style extended flashback into Claire's life, pre-transition. I fully respect Jeph's decision to keep Claire's past off-limits. However, there is plenty of room in Claire's current life to flesh out her character and personality. She lives in Northampton with her mother and brother; have they lived there a while, or did they recently move for college? We don't know. If the former, does she have any favorite haunts in the area that Marten and his friends don't know about? We don't know. Does she have other friends in the area? We don't know. What are her hobbies outside of work? We don't know. But I'm sure we would all like to find out, along with other things. She currently spends most of her time with Marten, but what about the rest of the cast? Once she comes out to Tai, will the two of them bond over LGBT issues? Will she keep trying to talk Faye into going to therapy for her alcohol problems, or perhaps help her in other ways? What about her growing friendship with Emily? Would Sam like a big sister? And if Hannelore decides to take another step in tackling her issues, wouldn't Claire make a better roommate than Marigold? All good questions, I think, and since Claire has been catapulted into the main cast, there is are plenty of opportunities to explore these and other questions. Let's do it!

But there is one thing I do hope Jeph addresses, and that's because Claire brought it up herself in 2900: she has never been in a relationship before and doesn't know what she's doing, and, since she still has fears and anxieties and bad days, she is afraid of what might happen if Marten sees how vulnerable she can be. Please stop me if I'm out of bounds here, but I say LET IT HAPPEN. Let's see Claire on a bad day. I'm not saying I want to see Claire at her worst; I'm saying I want to see her dealing with her issues and working to become overcome them. And I want Marten to be there for it. He's already been witness to one anxiety attack; I don't think he's going to be scared off, and I don't think it's going to hurt either of them. Claire's insecurities don't have to drive a wedge between them and be relationship-ending the way Dora's were; in fact, there is plenty of potential for their relationship to grow instead, get stronger, and bring them closer together. Claire made a damn good choice, making a friend in Marten; and she got damn lucky, snagging him as a boyfriend, too. There are worse people out there to date.

But before you think I'm trying to paint Marten as Claire's knight in shining armor, riding in to save her from the dragons, we need to consider:

4. What does Claire want?

(click to show/hide)

Claire wants to be a librarian. She's has some very good reasons for wanting that, and she considers libraries to be serious business. So she really picked a bad place to do her internship, because her two immediate superiors at Smif Library are directionless and risk-averse Marten, and Tai.

At some point, I think Marten and Claire (and, perhaps, Tai) need to continue the conversation they were having the day before they started going out. She's the only one in the group who actually wants to be a librarian; how does she feel about working under two people who aren't as passionate about the work as she is? Forget Marten for a moment, he at least seems to be looking ahead to the future (even if he's made little effort to achieve his goals)--what about Tai, who...doesn't? I love the girl, but her attitude towards the library is beginning to clash with Claire's. And hey, it's not like Tai cares about her job that much. She would rather be writing erotica for a living (making her goals as realistic as Marten's), and Marten is only coasting along until the band picks up. What happens if Claire decides that she could do a better job? What if one of the librarians see she has potential? Is there room in the library for three four employees (remember Momo? I didn't!), or is Marten (or Tai) expendable? After all, this is what Claire is studying to do; the other two are just there. But for how long?

So, what next?There is a lot to consider about Marten and Claire, separately and as a couple, and a lot of potential for the both of them to grow as characters. So with that in mind, here's a short summary of what I would like to see happen next:

(click to show/hide)

LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE.

Fact is, we got to see a lot of Marten and Claire these last hundred strips. That's not a complaint! I was genuinely happy that they got together and started a relationship, and I like that Jeph decided to spend some time solidly establishing them as a couple. And when we last left them in 2901, they seemed to be settling down into their roles quite comfortably. Good for them! Have fun, you crazy kids. As mentioned above, there are plenty of challenges ahead for both of them, as individuals and as a couple, but there is no pressing need to explore them all right now. Jeph recently stated in a now-locked thread about the future of QC that he has "no plans to end QC anytime soon." That's a rather vaguely-worded answer, but I hope that means we can continue to enjoy the Adventures of Marten Reed & His Merry Band of Friends for many years to come--with plenty of time devoted to Marten and Claire and their budding relationship.

But for the near future, I really hope Jeph moves them to the background for a bit to focus on the rest of the cast. Faye needs therapy and a new job, Dora has doubts about her actions and needs a new employee, and I miss Hannelore, Momo, May, Dale, Marigold, Tai, and hell, even Sven. So it wouldn't hurt if the relationship got put on the back-burner for a bit to give their friends some panel-time. As with the other couples past and present, we can assume that no news is good news, and let them have some privacy while Faye and the others get their shit together. Then, in between some of the other storylines Jeph is currently juggling, we can explore Claire's background a bit, flesh out her character, talk about her ambitions, work on her and Marten's future, and so on. But we have years to work on that, so what's the rush? I know I'm going to stick around for the ride.

Aaaand those are my thoughts on what the future has in store for the S. S. Claireten. tl;dr: Anything can happen. What are your thoughts? Let's discuss!

[Edited to fix minor typos and factual errors, change the thread title, and to expand on some thoughts.]

« Last Edit: 28 Feb 2015, 20:22 by Gladstone »

Logged

You have not experienced Questionable Content until you have read it in the original Klingon.

Certain aspects of Jeph's life were reflected in the earlier strips, by his own admission; as he's aged/grown up, he's mentioned that those things have diverged. This is by no means the most random thought I've had, but it's up there: If Marten's young Jeph, what are the odds that some aspects of Claire are old(er) Jeph (at least in terms of having a bit more ambition and focus)?

And if he can get up off his ass, Marten making a living with his music isn't that far off base; speaking of his creator, I kinda doubt if Jeph knew when he started this thing more than a decade ago that it'd become what it is now; the important thing is, at some point, he did start, and took the leap of faith into doing it full-time. He can, in other words, write Marten's growth from a position of experience that a lot of people don't have. Whether he's comfortable doing that is something else altogether, but it could take the story in some interesting directions.

The Marten-Claire dynamic as a couple... all I'm going to say about that is if you've ever been someone's first real relationship when you've got some experience under your belt, that does have its challenges. There's a huge vein of material there, not all of which would have to end in heartbreak (even though there're bound to be some rocky moments in between).

I've mentioned elsewhere that I think the long series of strips focusing on the two of them was so that he could firmly establish them as a couple and then move on to other things. They, and their relationship, would still be in the strip, obviously, but in some ways it'd be a lot like Steve and Cosette's relationship; it's backgrounded to some degree, so we just assume everything's humming along alright unless/until we're told otherwise. That lets Jeph move on to other things without a metric shit ton of speculation about what Claireten's status is.

And, as you mention, there's still plenty to be explored with both of them as individuals rather than as a couple. I'd really like to see some of those things delved into, since one of the biggest signs of a healthy relationship (IMHO) is that the people involved have lives that don't just revolve around what they are with/to each other.

I voted for Jim and Veronica's wedding bells, mostly because this does seem to be where Veronica's arc has been going from the time of Henry and Maurice's wedding. Remember the cry of "Oh God! I'm so lonely!" What Veronica is looking for now in her life is stability and somewhere she can have real, meaningful roots. Not the professional links that she has and seems to be the closest thing to a 'family' she has but personal roots of a kith and kin type.

This will relate to Marten in one important way. I think that Marten, too, is seeing too many empty spaces in his life. That's more than anything else why he's been looking at Claire differently. She is, bizarrely enough, probably the most normal girl he knows. That's what he desires - normal, settled and predictable. He's had enough of drama and he's had enough of exotic. I think that he's taken to heart what Tai said about not rejecting good enough just because it isn't his heart's desire come true. He's decided that he should value the existing good things in his life and treasure them; go with what he has rather than wait forever for a perfection that may never come.

What's their future? If the relationship lasts, I can see it being very, very long-term. Wedding bells and everything. Although I get the impression that Jeph isn't a great fan of little kids, I can see Marten and Claire settling down and, after Claire graduates, starting a family. Maybe they'll adopt or, maybe, depending on how advanced medical technology is in the QC-verse, Claire may have had a uteroplasty as part of her gender reassignment treatment. Or, hell, one of Marten's friends may volunteer to carry a child for them. No matter the mechanics (and it would be in Jeph's nature simply to 'take it as read' when it comes to the mechanics), I can see, in the distant future, a mellow, red-head girl and a punning, prickly black-haired boy helping the cast earn their grey hairs.

But there is a big 'in between' standing there. An 'in between' that could be filled with anything. Dora and Tai asking Marten to father their child? Emily joining Deathmole as keyboardist (leading to Amir finally getting to tell Natalie to take a running jump)? Clinton turning out to be a grade-A ass and making Emily cry on their 'not-a-date'? Claire deciding to walk on the wild side with Marten for a while, leading to a brief phase of sex, intoxicants and rock-and-roll during a short period when the Indy Hipsters are treating Deathmole as flavour-of-the-month? None of these are inconceivable. We'll just have to wait and see!

Certain aspects of Jeph's life were reflected in the earlier strips, by his own admission; as he's aged/grown up, he's mentioned that those things have diverged. This is by no means the most random thought I've had, but it's up there: If Marten's young Jeph, what are the odds that some aspects of Claire are old(er) Jeph (at least in terms of having a bit more ambition and focus)?

[Snip]

Huh, I hadn't considered that. Good thought!

Quote from: Aziraphale

I've mentioned elsewhere that I think the long series of strips focusing on the two of them was so that he could firmly establish them as a couple and then move on to other things. They, and their relationship, would still be in the strip, obviously, but in some ways it'd be a lot like Steve and Cosette's relationship; it's backgrounded to some degree, so we just assume everything's humming along alright unless/until we're told otherwise. That lets Jeph move on to other things without a metric shit ton of speculation about what Claireten's status is.

Yeah, that was my conclusion near the end of this arc as well. Near the beginning, though, I assumed they would go a lot slower, but I wasn't considering the questions other readers were raising regarding them as a couple. It makes sense now that Jeph felt he needed to drive the point home several times with a very large mallet before moving on, and I hope you're right that we do move on and let more of their relationship happen off-panel.

What's their future? If the relationship lasts, I can see it being very, very long-term. Wedding bells and everything. Although I get the impression that Jeph isn't a great fan of little kids, I can see Marten and Claire settling down and, after Claire graduates, starting a family.

[...]

But there is a big 'in between' standing there. An 'in between' that could be filled with anything. Dora and Tai asking Marten to father their child? Emily joining Deathmole as keyboardist (leading to Amir finally getting to tell Natalie to take a running jump)?

I agree with pretty much everything in this thread, particularly the idea that Jeph has changed his writing style as he matures. The comic has really come a long way.

I've often wondered about the development of the characters and how (or if!) Jeph is going to develop them in the future. I personally, like, I suspect, so many others, began to get my life together during my twenties and started making real relationship, job and future decisions rather than just drifting along like many of the QC cast seem to have been doing.

I would really hope that we will see some real character development in the next batch of strips - Dora and Faye (and arguably, Marten too) are at a point where they have to make some difficult decisions at some point in the near to middle future. Going to be very interesting to see how it pans out.

And if I may have a personal wish - Marten/Claire wedding arc at some point please don't break them up Jeph!

While we need to be shown a bit more substance, I think fundamentally they're a solid couple that's good for each other. They've got traits that can either cause some friction or maybe rub off on each other in a positive way. Or both.

Y'know, as long as the right traits rub off. We could end up with a stuck up judgmental Marten and a lazy Claire who doesn't know what to do with herself

What's their future? If the relationship lasts, I can see it being very, very long-term. Wedding bells and everything. Although I get the impression that Jeph isn't a great fan of little kids, I can see Marten and Claire settling down and, after Claire graduates, starting a family.

[...]

But there is a big 'in between' standing there. An 'in between' that could be filled with anything. Dora and Tai asking Marten to father their child? Emily joining Deathmole as keyboardist (leading to Amir finally getting to tell Natalie to take a running jump)?

Well, as I understood it, Jeph said no drama about babies and I agree with that. For example, no 'oh my god, it broke and I may be pregnant' soap-style story-lines.

However, I can see several story-lines he could pursue that would have children at the end of it. FWIW, though, I don't really expect it to happen until very close to where Jeph thinks that the strip is approaching its end and that the time has come to close off the remaining loose ends. You wouldn't actually see the Claireten and Taira spawn until the epilogue strips. Exact origin would, true to Jeph's attitude towards such things, be nebulous.

Regarding Natasha, this is just headcanon for me but I imagine that she's still in contact with Amir, continually going on about how Deathmole is nothing without her unique artistic stylings. It is even possible that Amir has some arrangements that require a keyboardist that were originally intended for her but (of course) Natasha couldn't play because she just wanted to make 'loud noises'. Enter Emily, who I would love to have this maverick near-auteur musical talent that is so automatic for her that she doesn't really think about it. ("I can play Pokémon game tunes with my eyes closed!")

Amir makes a point of dragging Natasha over to a rehearsal to finally hammer it home into the harridan's solid titanium-like skull that she isn't needed anymore.

Logged

~~~~

They call me BenRG... But I don't know why!

ASB84

With a lot of other plot arcs left to resolve, it wouldn't hurt to put them on the backburner for a bit. That's not to say they shouldn't be featured or anything, but focus on their interactions with other characters and spend some time with those other arcs.

As for their future, I think the comic should treat them as it has most other couples that have gotten any significant amount of "screen time" thus far: show that they're in a relationship, have them hanging out and doing stuff together, talking about whatever, the same as any other couple. I think the important thing for any of their arcs moving forward is that there's more to the story than "Look how cute they are together!"; have any cute moments be a part of the proceedings, not the point of the proceedings.

P.S.: I know we're talking about the future here, but it was necessary.

Hey, nothing wrong with the occasional lens flare if it looks awesome. It only becomes a problem when you have light reflecting off of every available surface and making it impossible to see anything going on. Hannelore's dad was smart enough to avoid that when he had the Station built.

In related news, I edited the above essay to expand on my conclusion a bit (the original seemed too abrupt), but I didn't really add anything new that we haven't discussed already. My only real achievement was breaking the 20,000-character limit, which I did not know was a thing.

Also changed the thread title to something more exciting, and probably jinxed the relationship. You can blame me if they break up later this week.

Logged

You have not experienced Questionable Content until you have read it in the original Klingon.

Marten and Faye are the Daphne and Niles of this comic. We've known since strip 4 that Faye is supposed to be the love interest. We just can't get to that point until Jeph runs out of ideas. Before we can get there, this relationship has to end.

Marten would never initiate the breakup. Initiating a breakup makes a protagonist unlikeable.

Claire would never initiate the breakup. She doesn't think anyone else could measure up to Marten and still be into her.

Thanks to Game of Thrones, we now live in a world where main characters can die anytime without foreshadowing.

Marten and Faye are the Daphne and Niles of this comic. We've known since strip 4 that Faye is supposed to be the love interest. We just can't get to that point until Jeph runs out of ideas. Before we can get there, this relationship has to end.

Marten and Faye are the Daphne and Niles of this comic. We've known since strip 4 that Faye is supposed to be the love interest. We just can't get to that point until Jeph runs out of ideas. Before we can get there, this relationship has to end.

Marten would never initiate the breakup. Initiating a breakup makes a protagonist unlikeable.

Claire would never initiate the breakup. She doesn't think anyone else could measure up to Marten and still be into her.

Thanks to Game of Thrones, we now live in a world where main characters can die anytime without foreshadowing.

Idea:Que Faye and Claire talking outside CoD, car comes in crashes into them or nearby, Marten rushes out and see both girls out cold but the car is on fire!, He hesitates for a moment before grabbing Faye and dragging her to safety, then just as he turns around to get Claire car explodes killing Claire, Marten spends a few days in the hospital with shrapnel wounds fighting himself as he tries to explain to himself why he picked Faye over Claire. (Pardon the short hand.)

^That is the nicest way to permanently kill off Claire.

Now as much as I dislike Claire I will be generous and say that maybe in the coming months things just quietly peter out and neither Marten or Claire can explain why they just fell apart, or Claire after gaining relationship experience wants to simply see other people, maybe even try to initiate a relationship under her own power essentially outgrowing Marten. Marten of course being Marten while being bummed supports Claire in her choice. Maybe combine this with Clair moving to say San Fran or other great distance or have her hook up with a random girl from the college.

Beyond this I feel fairly safe in Claire\Marten not being permanent again because so much of Marten thus far is increasingly out of character for him and he is going to eventually hit a critical failure point (kinda like Faye right now) in which EVERYTHING falls including Claire. The question is how long do we have to wait for that moment and could we get a extra long strip out of it?

ASB84

I thought the true ending had already been revealed? I mean, we're all prepared to laugh it off and dismiss it because it's Yelling Bird, but what better way to keep the final twist unexpected to the end?

Marten and Faye are the Daphne and Niles of this comic. We've known since strip 4 that Faye is supposed to be the love interest. We just can't get to that point until Jeph runs out of ideas. Before we can get there, this relationship has to end.

I love Claire. I don't see her and Marten stating together mainly because this is her first relationship. Ultimately those rarely ever last. It's a good fot for Marten, but in my view because of her lack of experience it isn't a good fit for her.

I forsee a break-up (eventually) followed by a reconciliation (way in the future). Then maybe wedding bells and what have you...

I apologize for brevity and grammar, stuck on a phone due to burglary.

I love Claire. I don't see her and Marten stating together mainly because this is her first relationship. Ultimately those rarely ever last. It's a good fot for Marten, but in my view because of her lack of experience it isn't a good fit for her.

Yeah, I'm willing to consider that the relationship might not work out for reasons like this, because it's entirely possible that the magic might fade/one of them will outgrow the other/whatever, even though I really don't see it happening...unless Jeph surprises us years down the road, and ends the strip with the two of them amicably going their separate ways (OH GOD NOW I CAN SEE IT HAPPENING WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO MEEEE?). But I will not entertain the "lol Claire DIES so Marten can kiss FAYE!" idea. It's awful and absurd for so many reasons.

« Last Edit: 23 Feb 2015, 23:08 by Gladstone »

Logged

You have not experienced Questionable Content until you have read it in the original Klingon.

I can't believe you called this thread "God Himself Could Not Sink This Ship". You DO remember what happened when someone said exactly that about the Titanic, don't you?? God said "Oh, yes I can!" and found himself just the right iceberg to do it. On the ship's very first voyage, no less. God don't waste no time when he's pissed off.

Why would you tempt fate like that? You're just daring QC's god, Jeph, to find some way to sink this ship!

Ohhhhhh, I see. That's what you WANT!! All this blather about how Marten and Claire are so perfect together is just to hide your real feelings. You want the SS Claireten to sink without a trace, so you're doing everything you can to sabotage it! Well, now we're on to you, and we'll do everything we can to foil your dastardly plot! Who's with me?? Charge the barricades!!!

I can't believe you called this thread "God Himself Could Not Sink This Ship". You DO remember what happened when someone said exactly that about the Titanic, don't you?? God said "Oh, yes I can!" and found himself just the right iceberg to do it. On the ship's very first voyage, no less. God don't waste no time when he's pissed off.

Somewhat off-topic but this is sort of an urban legend. Actually, no-one on the Titanic or involved in her construction or operation said those infamous words. They were drawn from an Op-Ed in a British newspaper at the time of her launch, lauding the innovations like water-tight subdivisions that, theoretically at least, made it a lot harder for the ship to sink due to a hull breach.

I suppose the point is that 'god' (Jeph, in this case) doesn't want to break them apart; for some reason he has a big personal emotional stake in them.

Crazy Shipper Idea:Some time in the immediate future, Claire and Martin go through a 'wild and crazy' phase where they try to 'spice up' their lives (even Tai is a bit worried). Amongst the consequences is a series of poly dates (Marten x Claire x ???). In essence almost every possible Marten x ??? ship is in some way referenced.

At the end of this, Jeph publishes a single-panel strip of Yelling Bird wearing a Trollface mask and no-one in the strip ever refers to the sequence ever again.

"I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." - Charles Babbage